Maybe Tomorrow
by Rhiannon Lovely
Summary: He knew that he would, eventually, have to let her go. But not today. Not today. Maybe Tomorrow. One-Shot Jasper/Bella


"Why do you always come here?" Bella asked her best friend, finding him in the same spot she found him for the last 369 days. He stood in the exact same spot she always found him in, staring at that God awful waste of money. She didn't know why her parents did that, but it's not like she could stop them.

"I don't know, Bee. Just like coming to visit you, I guess." Jasper said with a smile and walked over to her and Bella sighed.

"You know, I could just come over your house. We don't have to just meet here." Bella said, taking a seat and sitting cross-legged on the ground, Jasper sitting across from her.

"I like coming here. It's quiet." Jasper stated, and Bella snorted.

"Well, duh." Bella snarked and Jasper smiled, reaching out and brushing a piece of hair away from her eyes. He loved looking into her eyes, because they were like endless pools of chocolate. He also loved running his hands through her hair, because of how soft it felt against his rough hands. She smiled and leaned into his touch, loving how Jasper always felt compelled to touch her. His touch felt amazing.

"Did you bring it?" Bella asked and he nodded taking _Pride and Prejudice_ out of his bag, Bella's favorite book. They both moved together, Bella turned around and placed her back to Jasper's chest. Jasper pulled his arm around her waist and cuddled her to him, burying his face in her hair. Strawberries, the best scent in the world.

"Where were we?" Jasper asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Chapter 9." Bella said and laid her head back against Jasper's broad chest. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, before starting to read. They both sat there, in their secret spot, reading together and enjoying each other's embrace and company. They rarely had to fill the silence with words, because the words just seemed so mundane. Their silence spoke a thousand words. Jasper held the book up with one hand, while the other wrapped around her waist. Bella would flip the page when it was time, and would place kisses on his neck, which she knew drove him mad.

_"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you..."_ Jasper read aloud, speaking with passion and directed the words towards the girl below him. Bella couldn't help but to smile, looking up to him, who looked down at her and returned the smile. His eyes were always her favorite thing about him. They changed from green to brown, depending on his mood. Sometimes they were dark, though, whenever they looked at her, they were bright and so lovely.

Jasper Whitlock and Bella Swan had been best friends ever since they were toddlers. Their parents were friends, so naturally, they became best friends. You wouldn't find Jasper without Bella, or Bella without Jasper. Where one ended, the other started. They, and everyone else, knew it would always be like that, forever.

When it was getting dark, Jasper knew that he needed to get home. He stood up and brushed the grass off his pants, before turning to Bella, who looked at him with a sad smile.

"Bella, I..." _love you..._

Bella smiled sadly, nodding her head, "I know. Back at ya." _I love you, too..._

She walked towards him with a smile, placing her hand on his cheek. She leaned forward and gently pressed her cold lips to his warm ones, both of them almost flinching from the electroshocks that run through them. She knew that she had to keep it as chaste as possible, so, reluctantly, they both pulled back. Bella smiled a soft smile at her best friend.

"See you later, alligator." Bella said with a smile, which Jasper had no choice but to return.

"After a while, crocodile." Jasper smiled as his best friend walked away from him, whistling. He watched her until she wasn't in view anymore, before he glanced down to the headstone, which read:

_Isabella Marie Swan_

_September 13, 1987 - June 10, 2004_

_Beloved Daughter and Friend_

_What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us._

June 10, 2004 was Jasper's seventeenth birthday, and the worst day of his life. That whole week before, he had everything planned, and he was going to finally tell his best friend, Bella, that he loved her. His parents had gifted him a car and he drove over to Bella's to pick her up, so they could hang out.

He surprised Bella when he pulled up in his new car and jumped right in, both of them driving around and singing along to songs on the radio. Jasper was trying to work up the nerve to admit his feelings, while Bella was working up the nerve to give him his 'birthday present'. She was going to, finally, kiss him. She had dreamt all that week about his lips, and how good it would feel to have them against hers... and other places. Those thoughts always made her blush, but desire filled her as she thought of being intimate with Jasper.

She knew that she loved him, but thought that he didn't find her desirable. She was plain, not like girls like Alice Brandon or Rosalie Hale, who were beautiful and always wanted to go out with Jasper. He never showed any interest in them, and Bella didn't know why.

What she didn't understand, was that Jasper only had eyes for her. He thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world, and longed to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, to whisper his love in her ear, to scream it from the top of a mountain. He wanted them to be each other's first everything.

Unfortunately, on their fun drive, a drunk driver swerved out of control and towards Jasper and Bella, hitting them head on. Jasper woke up in the hospital, and Bella was the first thing on his mind. He had to know where she was, and when he asked, his parents knew that it was going to be the hardest thing they would ever have to tell their son.

Bella was dead.

Jasper felt completely numb after they told him that, and the first thing he did was deny that it was true. He refused to believe that his best friend, and the love of his life, was dead. He screamed, cried, threw things, and then passed out from shock. He finally believed it, when her parents came into to talk to him. He felt like it was all his fault, but they assured him that it was the heavily intoxicated driver's fault, who _only_ got a broken arm, but Bella died. Dead. Gone.

The funeral was a somber event, the sky pouring rain, and Jasper almost broke down completely. He never thought that he would be putting Bella in the ground, lost forever to him. It was the only time he ever cried in his teenaged life. He didn't know how he was going to go on without his best friend.

Bella appeared to Jasper the day after her funeral, and he thought that he was going crazy. She explained that she cannot pass on, until she settled all of her affairs. They decided to just enjoy that they are being given some more time together, and eventually, they both figured out that the 'affairs' she needed to settle was Jasper telling her those three little words, and Bella telling him back. They both figured out that once they said those words, Bella would leave for the afterlife.

They desperately wanted to tell each other the depths of their love, but they didn't want to part. They didn't want to be away from each other, and Jasper didn't not want to give Bella up. Call it his own selfish desire, but he couldn't give the only girl he'll ever love up, even if it was to pass on and rest in peace. Bella didn't want to leave, either. She said the afterlife has no meaning or allure without him there.

So, they were being sneaky and found different ways to say those three little words. Through quotes, like the one in Pride and Prejudice, through songs, through secret little meanings. They would give each other kisses, but keep them as innocent and short as possible. It was almost like a loophole, because they were not ready to give each other up.

Jasper turned around and walked out of the cemetery, and over to his car, getting in and driving back to his house. During the drive, he let his thoughts wander. He knew that he would, eventually, have to let her go. But not today. Not today.

Maybe Tomorrow.


End file.
